Auburn fans root for rival Super Bowl teams

Ben Furtado/Auburn JournalTeachers Greg Robinson, left, and Mike Sabins, show competing team pride at Placer High’s Le Febvre Stadium Thursday. Robinson is a life-long Green Bay Packers fan, while Sabins has always rooted for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both said they are looking forward to an exciting game this Sunday as the two teams duke it out at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex.

Super Bowl XLV will offer Auburn residents a chance to get together for delicious snack foods, half-time performances, crazy commercials and, of course, the Pittsburgh Steelers battling it out with the Green Bay Packers.
Pete Aroz Jr., of Pistol Pete’s on Harrison Avenue, said their Super Bowl party promises a wild time with a lot of fans on both sides.
“Some of our regulars … they spent their whole season here,” Aroz Jr. said.
Pistol Pete’s is offering all-you-can-eat pizza for $8 during the duration of the game and free pewter Jack Daniel’s belt buckles for each customer.
Customers can also bring their own food.
So what is Aroz Jr. looking forward to?
“I’m just like any other fan,” he said. “I’m a (San Francisco) 49ers fan, so my dreams of the Super Bowl were over after the third week. I always watch (the game). I do try to get home at least at half time so I can spend it with my family. It’s like a holiday.”
The California Club is also hosting a celebration, said employee Sally Phipps.
“We are having a big Super Bowl party,” Phipps said. “We have got three TVs and we are having a potluck.”
Auburn resident Ray Kikel is rooting for the Steelers. He’s looking forward to a couple of things in terms of the game.
“I’m from the Pittsburgh area, so I was brought up a Steelers fan,” Kikel said. “It would be, of course, the seventh Super Bowl which the Steelers have won. It would be pretty nice to win the seventh Super Bowl in the big (Cowboys) Stadium that Jerry Jones built (in Arlington, Tex.), because I don’t think the Cowboys are too fond of the Steelers.”
Kikel said he plans to watch the game at Pistol Pete’s and, because he is fairly superstitious, he is going to wear the same jersey he wore when the team was victorious in the past.
“Every Super Bowl the Steelers played in that I watched at Pete’s they won, so I’m going to watch this one at Pete’s too,” Kikel said.
Two teachers at Placer High School are rooting for different teams, but said they are both looking forward to the game.
Mike Sabins has been a Steelers fan since he was young, and he began following the team because his father was a Raiders fan.
“I have been a Steelers fan since I was a little kid,” Sabins said. “I just kind of picked the Steelers so we would have something to argue about. The Steelers are the epitome of tough-guys football. They run the ball, they play great defense. (I like) just the toughness of their team and how they represent Pittsburgh steel workers.”
Sabins said he attended one Steelers game in Southern California where the team played the then-Los Angeles Raiders.
“And the Steelers won,” Sabins said.
Sabins said he thinks Sunday will deliver an exciting game.
“I’m hoping it’s a great game,” he said. “I think both the teams are pretty evenly matched. They are both teams with a lot of Super Bowl history. I got invited to a couple Super Bowl parties, but I really like to hang out at home, because I really like to just watch the game. Go, Steelers!”
Fellow Placer High teacher Greg Robinson said he hopes for a Packers victory.
“They were my favorite team as a kid,” Robinson said. “I’m not really sure how that happened, but it did.”
Robinson said although the team did go through a bumpy patch, he always stayed loyal, because his brother told him he couldn’t switch teams once he decided to be a fan.
“They were really bad for awhile,” he said. “There were a couple decades of obscurity.”
Robinson said he has a particularly fond memory of the Packers.
“I did go to one game,” he said. “My brother actually took me when I graduated from college. He and I went to Green Bay and they beat the 49ers. And that was the year they went on to win the Super Bowl (in 1997).”
Robinson said it was fun to see the team be rebuilt and become more successful.
Robinson said as a kid he wanted a Packers jersey, but no one was selling them, so his mom made him one. He still has a Packers helmet he ordered from Sears when he was younger.
Robinson said he is the only Packers fan among his friends, and he is looking forward to a fast-paced game.
“I hope it’s a good game,” he said. “I would love to see the Packers win, but as long as it comes down to a final drive, something exciting … I think it will be interesting. I will just be watching it with some friends. I’m hoping for a good day and some good commercials.”
Reach Bridget Jones at bridgetj@goldcountrymedia.com
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What are people buying for their parties?
Local residents can look forward to some great grocery store deals on snack foods and beverages leading up to the big game.
Tim Lalley, assistant store manager for Save Mart on Elm Avenue, said the store is offering deals on everything from shrimp and spare ribs to frozen pizzas and avocados.
“Frozen pizzas, Super Bowl weekend is the No. 1 weekend for frozen pizza out of the year,” Lalley said. “(Avocados) are a very popular item. Everything you would find in a party from hot dogs to ribs to spirits (are popular). It basically is just one huge party.”
Nichole Leddy, store director for Raley’s on Lincoln Way, said avocados are probably the store’s most popular item in the days building up to the Super Bowl.
Leddy said employees always know what business will be like the day of the game.
“The day of will be crazy until 3 o’clock – lines, a lot of people, no parking, and then at 3 o’clock it will be a ghost town,” she said.
Jeremy Lampman, grocery manager at Grocery Outlet on Grass Valley Highway, said items like avocados, chips, salsa and beer are big sellers for the Super Bowl, and the store has sales on select beers this weekend.
“People definitely do treat it like another holiday in terms of special meals,” Lampman said. “It’s very similar to New Year’s in terms of what sells.”
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Need a ride home after a few drinks?
AAA is offering its Tipsy Tow service to residents from 6 p.m. Super Bowl Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.
“Everybody wants to have fun at a Super Bowl party,” said Matt Skryja, spokesperson for AAA Northern California. “But if you’ve been drinking, don’t get behind the wheel. Give AAA a call and we’ll make sure you get home safely.”
AAA offers this service to anyone in need, including non-AAA members.
Party goers who call (800) 222-4357 and ask for a Tipsy Tow will get a free up-to-10-miles ride and tow home.
According to Skryja, on Super Bowl Sunday 2010 the California Highway Patrol reported four people were killed in alcohol-related accidents. The Highway Patrol also arrested 454 people for driving drunk.